Darvish just what Dodgers needed

Already dominant, team serious threat to seize crown

On the first day of spring training, manager Dave Roberts walked into the Los Angeles Dodgers clubhouse with a proclamation.

“( He) told us we’re gonna win this thing this year,” Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen said.

Over the course of 108 games, as the Dodgers continued to maintain a franchise- high win percentage, that proclamation looked more and more inevitable.

And Friday night — Los Angeles’ 109th game of the season — when Yu Darvish made his Dodgers debut at Citi Field in front of 41,187 fans, the prized right- hander pushed the needle of Roberts’ prediction one notch closer to fruition.

Darvish was nothing short of exceptional, throwing seven innings of shutout baseball while surrendering three hits and one walk. Or, more simply, the New York Mets couldn’t touch the Dodgers’ newest addition.

Darvish blew his two- and four- seam fastball past the Mets for 10 strikeouts, all while utilizing a full arsenal of a curveball, slider, cutter and changeup. A collection of pitches like that is hard to come by.

“He attacked the strike zone early, and he got them to chase late,” said catcher Yasmani Grandal. “That’s the name of the game, that’s when you start playing that cat- and- mouse game. The ability for him to spin the ball when he needs it for a strike and then for a strikeout, it’s huge. All of a sudden you start playing with angles — whether it’s a curveball that starts up in the zone and ends up in the bottom.

“You know, what are you gonna sit on now? Because I can go to a slider, I can go to a fastball up. You pick your poison, and I told him he did a really good job of that, being able to mix pitches in, out, up, down, and I don’t think there was a certain pitch that you can actually just pinpoint.”

But, of course, it’s no secret that Darvish’s arsenal is effective. His 41⁄ years as the ace of the 2 Texas Rangers showed that. How he fits into the Dodgers rotation, however, might turn him from effective to indispensable.

In acquiring Darvish in a blockbuster move made less than 10 minutes before Monday's nonwaivers trade deadline, the Dodg- ers found a vital right- hander to fit seamlessly into a staff that features three oft- dominant lefties at the top of the rotation in Clayton Kershaw, Alex Wood and Rich Hill.

“It’s just something that is a great complement to the rest of the team,” Hill said. “I know everybody’s excited about watching him pitch tonight and excited for the rest of the year to see him go out there and do his thing.

“That kind of injection into the clubhouse is something that — you know, guys were excited on the plane the other night when everything kind of came through, and everybody’s gonna see a guy with just electric stuff. And the way he goes out there, attacks hitters, I think is gonna be fun to watch.”

Friday night, it was fun to watch indeed. But Darvish’s impact stretches far beyond one game, and his win against the Mets might only be scratching the surface of what’s in store for the Dodgers and their opponents.

As Grandal explained Friday night, he was watching Darvish’s face light up from behind the plate as pitches he’s not used to seeing called for strikes were, in fact, being called for strikes. With that comes more confidence, and with more confidence come more nights like Friday. That’s a scary thing to imagine come October.

But there is, of course, an even scarier thought, and it’s that Darvish is far from alone.

Assuming Kershaw recovers from a lower back strain that landed him on the 10- day disabled list, he’ll get the ball in Game 1 of the postseason. Next comes Darvish, equipped with a five- pitch arsenal throwing from the opposite side.

As if that wasn’t enough of a buzz saw, the Dodgers can trot out Wood — the man who has lost one game this season. And the Dodgers also boast a bullpen that tops the National League, and come October, will have nearly untouchable Jansen available for two- inning saves.

The Dodgers brought Darvish to Los Angeles for October, and now they have a 1- 2 punch that has the potential to turn Roberts’ premature declaration into the beginning of a narrative culminating in a run to World Series championship.

“All I’m saying is you better not strike out three times in the first game,” Grandal said, “because you might be in for a big surprise in the second.”

NOAH K. MURRAY, USA TODAY SPORTS Yu Darvish, who has a 3.38 career ERA, was stellar in his Dodgers debut, pitching seven shutout innings with three hits, one walk and 10 strikeouts against the Mets.